


Quick to Judge

by dwarrowdams



Category: Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: Gen, Gilan Cousland, Multiple Wardens, Tirzah Aeducan, in which Gilan Cousland has a questionable thought process
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-15
Updated: 2015-07-15
Packaged: 2018-04-09 03:15:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 726
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4331664
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dwarrowdams/pseuds/dwarrowdams
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After surviving an encounter with one of the Antivan Crows, Gilan and Tirzah decide whether they should let him live or die.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Quick to Judge

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on Tumblr under the username dwarrowdams.

Tirzah looked down at Zevran, her dark eyes searching him for any signs of deceit.  The assassin gazed up at her expectantly, seemingly oblivious to the small pool of blood oozing from his side. “So?” he asked.

She bit her lip, pondering the situation.  True, he had just tried to kill her—along with Gilan and Alistair—but he had answered all of her questions without trouble, even offering to travel with them if allowed to live.  He looked innocent lying in front of her and for a moment, she wanted to help him up and tell him that he could stay.

But she had been fooled by the façade of kindness before and she wasn’t about to let herself fall into another trap like Bhelen’s.

She flicked her eyes over Zevran once more before turning to Alistair.  “Keep an eye on him,” she said.  “I want to talk to Gilan about this.”

Alistair nodded, hand on the pommel of his sword as he stared down at the elf, trying to look much more menacing than he was.  Tirzah bit back a smirk as she led Gilan to a spot several yards away from the rest of the group where they would be just out of earshot.  “So,” she began, “what do you think?”

“I think we should let him live,” Gilan murmured.  “It can’t be a bad thing to have an assassin on our side.”

Tirzah looked up at him, surprised.  “Really?  You’re going to let him come along with us just like that—after he tried to kill us?”

Gilan nodded.  “I think he means well,” he said.

“Gilan, he was hired by Loghain to murder us,” Tirzah said, closing her eyes and rubbing her temples in exasperation.  “What he says about it just being another job might be true, but who’s to say that he won’t kill us in our sleep some night before slipping off to collect his payment?”

“He said himself that he’s never know anything but the Crows,” Gilan said.  “We at least deserve to give him a chance.”

Tirzah rolled her eyes.  “Because of course dragging someone who just tried to murder us across Ferelden isn’t a bad idea at all,” she muttered.

“He was just doing it for the coin, Tirzah,” Gilan said.  “He doesn’t deserve to die for that.  Besides, I certainly wouldn’t mind having him around.”

“Oh ancestors,” Tirzah muttered, shaking her head at Gilan.  “You fell for all that ‘I can stand around and look pretty or warm your bed’ nonsense, didn’t you?”

“Well, I certainly wouldn’t mind…,” Gilan admitted, his eyes sparkling with intrigue, “but all that aside, he seems like he just wants to live more than anything.”

“That’s a fair point,” Tirzah murmured.  “Still, the idea of keeping an assassin that close to us makes me a little uneasy.”

“You’re being terribly mistrustful,” Gilan said.

“And you’re being terribly trustful,” Tirzah replied.  “Why exactly are you ready to risk so much on someone like him?”

Gilan bit his lip for a moment, furrowing his brow as he thought for a few moments.  “He wants this, I think,” he said.  “There’s just something about his voice that sounds…sincere.”

“Would that ‘something’ be his Antivan accent?”

“No.”

Tirzah stared at him knowingly.

“All right, it is,” he said.  “But you’ve got to admit that it’s… _nice_.”

“It  _is_  nice,” Tirzah said, “but not nice enough to make me forget about how he almost killed us.”

“Think about it for a second, Tirzah,” Gilan said.  “Either we kill him, send him off to do as he pleases until the Crows catch up with him, or bring him along and see what use he can be.  He owes us if we keep him alive…and besides, I really don’t want to do any more killing.”

Tirzah sighed heavily, knowing that Gilan was right.  She was tired of needless bloodshed and although she still had her suspicions about the Antivan assassin, she believed that he’d prove himself useful before the end—even if that end was at the point of her sword.

“All right,” she said.  “We’ll bring him along, but only if you agree to keep an extra eye on him.”

“Oh, I’ll keep both eyes on him,” Gilan murmured, smirking.

“Ancestors, you’re terrible,” Tirzah said.  “Come on, let’s go tell him the good news.”


End file.
